Ghostly Revelations
by DauntlessAdrenaline
Summary: Leo's confrontation with the Nightwatcher, coupled with an interesting twist. Could be seen as suggesting M/M, though only if you choose to view it that way. Then again, everything could be perfectly normal. Hmm.. You shall see.


**Hey, guys! I'm baaaaack.**

**After I saw all the excellent reviews from my other Leo&Raph fic, I just couldn't resist writing another. Teehee. Please, carry on.  
**

**Summary: Leo's confrontation with the Nightwatcher, coupled with an interesting twist. Could suggest some M/M if you choose to view it that way, but then, all could be perfectly normal... Hmm. You shall see.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT, I don't make money.**

* * *

I watched Raph as a hunter would it's prey, stalking him, ready to go in for the kill at any given moment. He met my gaze with equal ferocity, his sais relaxed in his metal-clad hands.

I still couldn't get over the the fact that my brother had lied to me about this stupid double life of his. My blood boiled, rushing to my normally clear head. I had never been this angry with him before. Raph had not only put our family in jeopardy; he seemed determined to get himself killed.

Yet, I still couldn't convince myself to hate him for his biting words, his harsh actions. They had become so ingrained in his personality, I doubted the same Raph could stand before me without his impulsiveness.

Raph smirked then, taunting me. I knew very well what he was doing. He was trying to goad me into attacking him first. He always told me he would enjoy watching me lose control.

"I'm done taking orders, fearless," Raph sneered. It wasn't a pleasant expresssion on him. I had to remind myself that this fool who stood before me was most definitely NOT my brother. He would never dare...

Maybe he would.

Behind Raph's eyes, I glimpsed a sliver of something I could just barely place, something that shouldn't have been there. Raph's eyes were haunted by desperation, almost as if he had gone into fight-or-flight mode.

I could barely register my own sentences as I began to lecture. I knew Raph wasn't listening, either, and I hated myself for a moment. Perhaps if I wasn't so stiff all the time, he would never have resorted to fighting as the Nightwatcher.

No. This wasn't right, I shouldn't be blaming myself. The Nightwatcher had been Raph's decision, not mine. Excuse me if he couldn't even function properly without my prescense hovering over him, keeping him in line.

He blamed me for everything that had ever gone wrong in his life; that much was obvious. Raph ranted endlessly about my journey away from home, and I let him. Maybe he could blow off a little steam that way.

Raph didn't seem to see that I had no _choice_ in the matter. I had to stay, masquerading as the jungle's ghost, because I had failed. I hadn't become a better leader. I still wasn't, and now, I questioned why Splinter had ever thought sending me away would foster some mysterious improvement. However, Splinter had his ways. I'm sure something would have happened, had I stayed just a while longer.

In the end, I had missed my brothers too much. Even missed Raphael.

ESPECIALLY missed Raphael.

I shook my head clear of that nonsense, I would not allow myself to think about that now. I had given too much of my attention over to reflection, as it were. Right now, Raph needed me.

His voice brought me back to the present.

"Leo? Are you even listening to me? Leo?" Raph snapped his fingers in front of my face, and I just stood there, frozen. He snapped a few more times. I found myself unable to move, my mouth refused to form words.

"Ah, just forget it," Raph yelled. He turned to stomp away, sulking. I was suddenly seized by the notion that if I let him walk away now, something terrible would happen to him. I could've sworn I saw menacing figures looming from the shadows, poised to ambush Raph and swallow him up.

I couldn't let him leave. I scoured my brain, grasping at straws. How could I keep Raph here?

I knew the answer almost instantly. I had to trigger the 'fight' in him. Oh, he would surely hate me for this, but I had to do it. It was my duty to keep him safe, and my instincts had never failed me.

This was going to hurt.

I called out to him, listing his flaws, the points where everyone knew he came up short. He stopped in his tracks, turning to face me. The hurt, plain on his face, struck something deep inside me like a knife. I lowered my gaze to the ground as I continued listing, only bringing my eyes up to meet his to speak those four last, igniting words.

"...I'm better than you."

In an instant, images began to scroll through my brain like eerie credits. Raph and I, fighting. My swords snapping. The look in Raph's eyes. Raph running away.

Statues. A dart, embedded deep in my flesh. Blackness.

Suddenly, I knew all these things would come to pass, and very soon. These moments rarely occurred, but they had happened before. Always while I was in deep meditation. Splinter had taught me a few tricks.

I steeled myself, prepared for Raph's first, rage-filled lunge, and everything that would happen afterward. Though on the outside I seemed perfectly in control, inwardly my heart swelled.

I would be a help to Raph after all. I growled, deep and low, and Raph took that as an invitation to begin.

He didn't know it was really the statues I challenged. Raph had no way of knowing I was calling out to them, assuring myself that if one of us would be sedated and dragged away to a possible death, it sure as hell would be me.

I hoped that one day, Raph would understand the gravity of my decision. That I only fought him to protect him from the world outside.

The lesson I learned in the depths of the jungles? The world is cruel. It can rip you and everything you ever loved to shreds in mere minutes, and there's not a thing you can do about it.

My blade clashed with Raph's, and I knew I would lose. How was I so certain?

Well, I was too busy memorizing every inch of him to really focus. Someday, I hoped I would get to see him again, if only in the afterlife.

He broke my swords. It was time.

* * *

**Well? Tell me what you think! R&R, please, I beg of you. You have no idea how I enjoy reading all comments-good and bad! **

**-Dauntless Adrenaline  
**


End file.
